Winner\u00a0of the Next Landmark Milan 2015<\/a>\u00a0competition, Urban SPA\u00a0<\/strong>is designed by Madrid-based\u00a0PKMN Architecture<\/strong> as part of a\u00a0workshop known as\u00a0Taller del Desierto\u00a0organized by\u00a0ISAD (Instituto Superior de Arquitectura de Chihuahua) every summer. PKMN Architecture was asked to lead a new edition of the workshop together with Mexican designer duo Memela, local architects Juan Castillo and Miguel Heredia and designer Miguel Garc\u00eda. The aim of this year\u2019s workshop was to build a small infrastructure at\u00a0Urueta Park, located in the city center of Chihuahua<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The workshop starts with the design of participatory dynamics to be carried out by the park\u2019s neighbours; the aim of the activity is not to gather each one\u2019s individual wishes for the present time but to serve as a starting point for the construction of a collective imaginary for the future. The park itself is divided into two separated areas: a sports area and a small woodland; a central alley serves as a link between them. The design session produces a series of sketches for future amenities such as: shaded areas for parents\u2019 drop-off times outside their child’s school, located next to the park; steps and scoreboards to link resting areas and sports zone; maintenance actions to fix public benches. But main neighbours\u2019 speculations concern the reactivation of the existing public water source, which is seen as the heart of the park but that has been broken for years.<\/p>\n